Community Brings Campaign to Record Close

Five years ago, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital outlined its plans to rank among the world's leaders in pediatric medicine in the 21st century. Its vision was to provide superb care to local children while fostering innovations to advance pediatric health care for future generations of children everywhere. The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health launched a $500 million fundraising campaign to make this dream a reality, building on the unique strengths of the Children's Hospital and the Stanford University School of Medicine.

The community rose to the challenge. More than 11,000 individuals joined with The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, which provided an inaugural grant and matching funds, to contribute a record $526 million -- completing the largest campaign to date for pediatric health care. Now, as the Campaign for Lucile Packard Children's Hospital comes to a close, Packard is recognized as one of the world's best children's hospitals, thanks to this unprecedented generosity.

Today, the Hospital has many of the most advanced programs in the country, combining nurturing care with the latest scientific advances to treat chronic and deadly childhood diseases such as cancer, cystic fibrosis, heart defects, and kidney and liver failure. Packard also has expanded its surgical program and currently is building a new surgical suite with six dedicated pediatric operating rooms. These exciting developments have attracted more than 44 leading physicians, surgeons, and researchers from around the world, giving Packard the highest concentration of pediatric experts of any medical center on the West Coast.

Campaign gifts also have enhanced Packard's familycentered approach to care. For example, early in the Campaign, the Hospital developed a new palliative care program to provide counseling and care for patients and their families who are coping with potentially end-of-life illnesses. Later this year, Packard will open new pediatric emergency services that will bring its child-friendly care to families visiting Stanford's emergency room.

New community programs are improving access to care for local families, and Packard has strengthened its commitment to treat any child in the community, regardless of a family's ability to pay. The Hospital now provides more uncompensated care to families without private health insurance than ever before. The new Mary L. Johnson Center for Ambulatory Care, which opened last year, offers state-of-the-art services to the growing number of children from the region who visit Packard's outpatient clinics.

Packard's transformation into one of the nation's leading children's hospitals in so short a time truly has been remarkable. Thanks to the Campaign's success, children have access to the best medical care available. Yet this is only the beginning as Packard continues to lead the way in care, research, and training, laying the groundwork for future innovations in children's health.